Why Westchester County's top-rated umpire savored this year's playoffs more than ever

There have been no easy days and certainly no easy nights for Lou Gaudio for months, especially with the fight he's facing. But for the last two months, the 62-year old had the occasional respite from all the fatigue and all the worrying between the white lines.

"The best three hours of my day has been officiating or umpiring," he said.

Gaudio just completed his 20th high school season as a member of the Westchester County Baseball Umpires Association, finishing it by working the Section 1 Class A championship doubleheader at Purchase College on Sunday.

Many of his colleagues watched from the seats behind home plate.

Said longtime umpiring partner and friend Steve Ryder: "I don't know anybody who doesn't like him."

But Gaudio now has umpires, coaches and even players in his corner for another reason. He is scheduled Thursday for surgery to combat stage four esophageal cancer — a procedure expected to last nearly nine hours.

Gaudio's been told he has a 50-50 chance at survival. It's a form a cancer often associated with drug or alcohol use, he said, but those aren't vices of his.

"This is just a bad break," Gaudio said.

He has been battling the cancer since he collapsed suddenly during the championship of the Westchester Rockland Wood Bat League at Mount Vernon High School last July. He would have usually gone on to officiate soccer and basketball, too, but the chemotherapy and radiation he endured last fall and winter took a physical toll.

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"I thought I was a tough guy," said Gaudio, who was a star basketball player at Lincoln High School in Yonkers and later spent years playing in national slow-pitch softball tournaments. "It brought me down to my knees."

News of Gaudio's fight was known among his colleagues. He became an evaluator of basketball officials last winter to stay involved, but was strong enough to return to the baseball field this spring.

Coaches and players have embraced him since, and Gaudio noted that Mamaroneck's Mike Chiapparelli and Yorktown's C.J. Riefenhauser were among the coaches who regularly checked up on him.

"Everywhere I went there was a team who gave me a hat or a t-shirt or told me I was in their prayer group," said Gaudio, who lives in Somers with his wife and has two grown children. "It's been a tremendous outpouring that I've gotten."

And despite his health, Gaudio finished the season as the association's top-ranked umpire. He earned the assignment to work home plate for the first half of Sunday's Class A championship, then was in the field for the second game between Somers and Eastchester.

Gaudio is respected among fellow umpires, but not just for his skill.

"He's a salt-of-the-earth guy," said Ryder, who has known Gaudio since the late '70s. "He'll give you the shirt off his back and he doesn't do it for the money. He's been pretty successful. He just loves doing it."

Gaudio, an animal lover, has owned several businesses, including four pet stores. He also co-owned Louie & Johnnie's, an Italian restaurant in Yonkers. Gaudio said he sold his business interests to focus on his health, but continued to stay involved in officiating and umpiring as an outlet.

His surgery was scheduled for May 4 but he needed more time to strengthen his heart beforehand, which allowed him to umpire through the end of the Section 1 playoffs — 42 games total.

Gaudio's new aim is to return to the court or field next school year, although recovery is expected to last at least four months. He will have his esophagus and part of his stomach removed.

"My goal is to get back in time to officiate basketball again this winter," he said. "But, listen, I have to survive this and live first."

Josh Thomson is the Sports Editor for The Journal News and Poughkeepsie Journal. He can be reached by e-mail at jthomson@lohud.com, on Twitter at @lohudinsider, and on Instagram at @lohudinsider.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Baseball umpire Lou Gaudio savors playoffs with cancer surgery looming